Meet Harvey

Follow Harvey's Story

“Therapists bonded and connected with Harvey really well so he had the spirit to carry on through the programme.”

Laurent, Harvey’s dad.

The Challenge

Harvey’s movement was limited in extension, supination and deviation of the wrist. Even though Harvey had good active movement of his fingers he lacked control and tended to be in full flexion or full extension. The combination of these difficulties made it hard for Harvey to orientate his hand and fingers around objects and control his grasp and release. Harvey was unable to disassociate his fingers which made it impossible to achieve him to pincer grasp.

Harvey was able to use his right hand in activities when prompted to, however, if given the option to choose his left arm would quickly complete the activity. Over the next 3 weeks we aimed to focus on the problems described with the view to increase Harvey’s ability to use his right hand effectively.

“The team was utterly flawless, fun and supportive, thank you very much!” - Laurent, Harvey’s parent.

The Goals

To increase Harvey’s range of movement in extension, deviation and supination

To help Harvey achieve finger disassociation

To improve finger and thumb control to allow pincer grip

To increase Harvey’s overall shoulder strength

Our Approach

01

Shoulder and muscle strengthening through sports and competitive playing

02

Finger control exercises

03

Grasp and release of big and small objects

04

Pincer grip practise through playing board games

“Harvey has more strength in his arm and his shoulder now”

Laurent, Harvey's Dad.

“Therapists bonded and connected with Harvey really well so he had the spirit to carry on through the programme.”

Laurent, Harvey’s dad.

“CIMT uses recognised techniques to assess the performance of the arm before and after the programme to show us the progress and intervention that’s been made.”

Laurent, Harvey’s dad.

“Harvey has done incredibly well through the whole CIMT process.”

Laurent, Harvey’s dad.

The Science-y Bit

The aim of the programme was to increase Harvey’s ability to use his right hand as an effective assisting hand, enabling him to achieve functional goals around getting himself ready for school independently. Our CIMT therapists tailored a programmed specifically around Harvey’s goals making each activity meaningful to him and his family.

The combination of the non-removable cast and targeted therapy aimed at increasing awareness and use of Harvey’s right arm and stimulated the formation of new pathways for movement in his brain. Using his right hand repetitively for meaningful tasks over a relatively short period of time produced lasting changes in Harvey’s neuro pathways, consequently promoting functional use of his affected side.

Blaithin Hadjisophocleous - Neurological Physiotherapist

“Harvey can grip a zip, pencil or a fork now with more strength.”

Laurent, Harvey's dad.

The Results

16.6%

Arm Use

80%

Grasp-Release (items)

66.6%

Grasp Release

16.6%

Pace items

The Achievements

Increase in shoulder strength and control which enabled him to throw and catch using both hands.

Harvey developed the ability to isolate his index finger which allowed him to press buttons and point.

Harvey’s finger and thumb control improved which gave him the ability to successfully pincer grasp.

Harvey’s wrist is in a more functional position and he is now able to abduct his thumb allowing him to grasp small items from the flat surface.

“The team was utterly flawless, fun and supportive, thank you very much!”

Laurent, Harvey's Dad.

The Parents Feedback

'The whole process has been good. It was quite a challenge but Harvey has done incredible well and has been so good. He has been happy through the whole programme mainly due to the sensitivity of the physios and they bonded and connected with Harvey really well. '

“Physically, Harvey has notably more strength in his right shoulder and arm now. We are really happy with the results. In a nutshell it’s been great and we would definitely do it again.” - Laurent, Harvey's dad.

The Therapists Feedback

“Harvey made my job as a therapist easy and pleasurable. One of the reasons why Harvey and I bonded so well was our competitive nature. All tasks were turned into games and Harvey’s motivation to succeed was admirable. We had endless giggles and three hours of therapy everyday made time fly by without us even realising” - Blaithin